Improving the psychotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is dependent on a deeper understanding of the relations between GAD and its associated cognitive factors. In the present study, we investigate how the core feature of GAD (i.e., worry) and its associated cognitive factors, such as meta-worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and attention bias towards threat, relate to each other in men at high risk for GAD. We used network analysis to explore the relations among these variables in a cross-sectional sample of 122 men at high risk for generalized anxiety disorder. Specifically, we computed the expected influence and predictability of each variable. In the final network, we found that worry and meta-worry had the highest expected influence and predictability. In contrast, attention bias towards threat showed the lowest expected influence and predictability. The estimates of the expected influence of the nodes were stable (correlation stability coefficient = 0.52). The present study is the first to investigate the relations among worry, meta-worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and attention bias towards threat in men at high risk for generalized anxiety disorder. These findings indicate that worry and meta-worry may play important roles in the present network. The implications for clinical interventions and future studies are discussed.

中文翻译：

---

广泛性焦虑症高危男性的担忧、元担忧、对不确定性的不容忍和对威胁的注意偏差之间的关系：网络分析。


改善广泛性焦虑症（GAD）的心理治疗取决于对广泛性焦虑症及其相关认知因素之间关系的更深入理解。在本研究中，我们调查了广泛性焦虑症的核心特征（即担忧）及其相关的认知因素，例如元担忧、对不确定性的不容忍和对威胁的注意偏向，在男性高风险人群中如何相互关联。 GAD。我们使用网络分析来探讨 122 名患有广泛性焦虑症高危男性的横截面样本中这些变量之间的关系。具体来说，我们计算了每个变量的预期影响和可预测性。在最终的网络中，我们发现担忧和元担忧具有最高的预期影响力和可预测性。相比之下，对威胁的关注偏差显示出最低的预期影响力和可预测性。节点预期影响的估计是稳定的（相关稳定性系数 = 0.52）。本研究首次调查了广泛性焦虑症高危男性的担忧、元担忧、对不确定性的不容忍以及对威胁的注意偏差之间的关系。这些发现表明，担忧和元担忧可能在当前网络中发挥重要作用。讨论了对临床干预和未来研究的影响。